The Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit would once again provide the setting for the final event of the Motor Racing Legends season with day 1 arguably dual headlined by a 1 hour combined race for the Woodcote Trophy, Stirling Moss Trophy and Pre 63 GT runners and the 2 hour Royal Automobile Club Pall Mall Cup.
Both events however would be preceded by the first Historic Grand Prix Cars Association race of the weekend where Tim Child would follow up his domination of qualifying with a sublime drive to race 1 victory; the Brabham BT3/4 man crossing the line 7.4 seconds ahead of what turned out to be a close fight for second between the Cooper T53 machines of Will Nuthall and Tom Waterfield.
Nuthall had earlier predicted Child would be tough to beat and instead would spend the latter half of the race focused on events behind. Indeed, had Waterfield not been embroiled in an early scrap with Rudi Friedrichs (aboard Michael Gan’s Cooper T79) he may well have snatched second from Nuthall late on. As it was Waterfield, despite becoming a growing image in Nuthall’s rear view mirror, would cross the line just over 1 second in arrears and have to settle for the final step of the podium.
A whole host of stunning 50’s and 60’s sports cars would line up for the combined Woodcote / Stirling Moss Trophy and Pre 63 GT 1 hour mandatory pit stop race which featured a fabulous battle between the powerful Jaguar and Chevy engined Listers and the nimble, lightweight Lotus’ at the head of the field.
Gary Pearson, aboard his Jaguar powered Lister Knobbly would lead the early stages but have an almighty challenge on his hands to keep the Lotus XV of Kyle Tilley behind. Both however would pit at the first opportunity with Tilley remaining behind the wheel of his Lotus and soon to be caught up in another brilliant battle, this time with the Lotus XI of Spencer Shinner with the aforementioned duo swapping positions on more than one occasion.
Pearson meanwhile had handed over the reigns of the Lister Knobbly to Alex Brundle who was doing an admirable job of making up for his Elite Driver pit stop penalty; lapping over 2 seconds quicker than the leading cars and providing the mouth watering prospect of a late challenge for victory.
Live snatch was unfortunately not in operation on the day however and a late safety car, closing up the gaps, somewhat ruined the spectacle as Brundle’s challenge for victory was made much more straightforward. Indeed the FIA Gold rated driver was past both Shinner and Tilley in little more than a lap after the track returned to green and would go on to record an excellent 4.8 second victory for he and Pearson.
The Lotus battle would continue over the remaining laps but Tilley seemed to just have enough in hand, the extra horsepower from his 2 litre Coventry Climax powered Lotus XV proving vital as the ERA Motorsport front man racked up another excellent result in the car. Shinner meanwhile had driven the wheels off the 1500cc Lotus XI Le Mans and was rewarded with an excellent 3rd, defeating a whole host of Listers in the process.
Elsewhere Lukas Halusa put in a stellar performance aboard the gorgeous family owned Jaguar D Type Shortnose to claim Woodcote Trophy victory with 5th place overall whilst Gary Pearson managed to win 2 races in one as the Jaguar E-Type he shared with brother John came home 9th to claim Pre 63 GT victory.
The 2 hour Royal Automobile Club Pall Mall Cup would round out the track activity for day 1 with Lukas Halusa, fresh from Woodcote Trophy victory, looking to make it a hat trick of major Royal Automobile Club victories in 2026 after Pall Mall Cup glory at Donington in May and TT Celebration victory just 1 month ago at Goodwood.
Safety cars would again dampen the strategic spectacle somewhat as the vast majority of the field were able to complete both their required 1 and 5 minute stops during the caution period. It did however provide a dramatic chase to the flag with Connor Kay (Lotus Elan), once again in giant killing performance mode, finding himself leading from the Jaguar E Type of John and Gary Pearson, Shelby Daytona Cobra of James Littlejohn and the E Type lightweight ‘Low Drag’ of Lukas Halusa.
Littlejohn, having taken over from Jeremy Cottingham, was however the star of the closing stages as a sequence of rapid lap times saw the Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe pilot soon past both the Pearson Jaguar and Kay’s Elan to take the lead of the race. And, not content with cruising to victory, the stalwart of historic racing continued to set the timing sheets alight as he and Cottingham went on to record a near 20 second victory.
Having lead for much of the first stint, the pitstops did not work out well for Halusa who found himself down in 4th as the green flag was finally thrown. The super fast Austrian would not give up the chance of a historic RAC hat trick lightly though and, once past Pearson, set about chasing down the second placed Elan.
Kay however was in defiant mood, setting mega lap times himself over the closing stages to just hold off the rare Jaguar E Type to claim a fantastic second, matching the excellent result achieved at the Donington historic meeting in early May.
Earlier in the day Andy and Chris Middlehurst would claim Historic Touring Car Challenge race victory aboard their Nissan Skyline. In a disappointing field of just 8 cars (possibly impacted by the Peter Auto event at Imola) Andy Middlehurst managed to keep the similar machine of Jonathan Bailey behind over the opening stint before son Chris was able to build a margin of some 28 seconds by the time of the chequered flag.
Sunday’s events would see Tim Child claim a second HGPCA victory of the weekend whilst Jonathan Bailey would take the second Historic Touring Car Challenge race victory. The Generations Trophy produced another strong field where Nick and Harry Whale would record a relatively comfortable win after 1 hour of racing. Meanwhile HRDC victories would go the way of Mike Whitaker / Ed Brand (Rover SD1), Sam Tordoff (Ford Mustang) and John Margalies (Alfa Romeo GTV6)
GALLERY
